Pedigree Insights: Caulfield on Muhaarar

Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum numerous triumphs in the British classics include two in the G1 2,000 Guineas–with the future Derby winner Nashwan in 1989 and Haafhd in 2004. A third 2,000 Guineas success must now be a possibility after two of his colts dominated the G3 Greenham S., a seven-furlong race which has been won in recent seasons by Frankel, Olympic Glory and Kingman. This trio of outstanding colts retired with a tally of 18 G1 victories between them. 

The latest edition looked to be the strongest of the British trials and this belief was strengthened when the winner, Muhaarar, took a substantial slice off the track record in wearing down Estidhkaar. However, the race has had little impact on the betting for the 2,000 Guineas, which is headed by Aidan O’Brien’s Galileo colts Gleneagles and Highland Reel. Some lists also feature another Irish colt–Sheikh Hamdan’s unbeaten Shamardal colt Zawraq–in third place in the betting, though this colt’s trainer and rider both expressed the belief that Zawraq would benefit from a distance longer than a mile following his success in the Leopardstown 2,000 Guineas Trial. 

Estidhkaar is generally on offer at 10-1, while Muhaarar is priced from 10-1 to 20-1. The generosity of Muhaarar’s odds probably reflects doubts about his participation at Newmarket, on the basis that this son of champion sprinter Oasis Dream might struggle with the stiff final furlong. Both his trainer Charlie Hills and rider Frankie Dettori appeared to think that Muhaarar might be better suited by the round mile of the Poule d’Essai des Poulains. 

Unfortunately for Oasis Dream, his other high-class 2-year-old with 2,000 Guineas potential–the G1 Middle Park S. winner Charming Thought–will definitely not be in the classic line-up. This colt, who was officially rated 4 lbs. superior to Muhaarar at two, suffered a small setback which will delay his reappearance until Royal Ascot. Interestingly, Charming Thought’s trainer Charlie Appleby told Racing Post that he is in the dark about whether his colt is a sprinter or a miler–a common problem with this particular branch of the Danzig male line. 

Whatever Muhaarar’s fate in the classics, he must already have added to Sheikh Hamdan’s manifest admiration for his sire Oasis Dream. This admiration no doubt stemmed partly from the fact that Oasis Dream is a son of Green Desert, who spent the whole of his long and impressive stallion career at Sheikh Hamdan’s Shadwell Stud. 

Green Desert was a Group 1-winning sprinter, but his stamina just about stretched to a mile, as he showed with his second in the 1986 2,000 Guineas. Although he was arguably most successful as a sire of sprinters, such as Oasis Dream, Invincible Spirit, Sheikh Albadou, Desert Lord, Markab, Tamarisk and Owington, Green Desert was also responsible for milers of the quality of Cape Cross, Desert Prince, Rose Gypsy and Heat Haze. 

Oasis Dream has very much followed in his father’s footsteps, the main difference being that the bottom half of his pedigree, which features three exceptional mile-and-a-half horses, enables him to sire the occasional G1 winner over a mile and a quarter or more, such as Midday, Lady Jane Digby and Querari. 

The bulk of his good winners shine over shorter distances, though, with Muhaarar being a good example, as he showed last year. In winning the Gimcrack S. he became Oasis Dream’s third winner of this six-furlong Group 2 event (one of his predecessors being that promising stallion Showcasing). 

Muhaarar is a Shadwell homebred. The latest edition of the Shadwell private stud book lists nine mares visiting Oasis Dream this year, including the 2005 Oaks winner Eswarah, the G3 winner Farmah and the Listed winners Muteela and Qertaas. There are also seven Shadwell mares foaling to Oasis Dream this spring and Shadwell also has eight Oasis Dream yearlings, including a colt out of the 1,000 Guineas winner Ghanaati and a filly out of 1,000 Guineas runner-up Cuis Ghaire. 

Support of this extent reflects the success that Sheikh Hamdan has enjoyed with Oasis Dream’s progeny–both home-bred and purchased. Among the purchases were Aqlaam (G1 Prix du Moulin), Arcano (G1 Prix Morny), Naaqoos (G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere) and Muarrab (a smart sprinter in the UAE), so they so far outshine the home-breds, which were headed by the listed winners Ertijaal and Mushir and the smart Muwaary prior to Muhaarar’s emergence. Rafaadah, another of Shadwell’s 2012 Oasis Dream foals, was also a listed winner at two. 

Trying to decide whether Muhaarar will be as effective over a mile as he is over seven furlongs is a fairly pointless exercise: we will only find out when he tackles that extra furlong. It has to be in his favour that he finished well in a strongly run Greenham, and that Oasis Dream has sired 2,000 Guineas winners in Ireland and Germany (two). 
Muhaarar’s broodmare sire, Linamix, was a good winner of the Poule d’Essai des Poulains and often sired progeny which stayed fairly well. Muhaarar’s dam Tahrir wasn’t among them. Although this useful performer was tried at a mile, she seemed most effective over six or seven furlongs. Muhaarar is Tahrir’s second stakes winner, his predecessor being the ill-fated Exceed And Excel filly Sajwah, who broke her pelvis in the G1 Cheveley Park S. 

It is worth pointing out that the strong, muscular Oasis Dream has a fine record with daughters of the more elegant Linamix. The partnership has only five foals aged three or over, but they include not only Muhaarar, but also Thai Haku (a G2-placed Listed winner) and Albaraah (a G3-placed Listed winner). This suggests we should be watching out for the pair of 2-year-olds bred this way, especially Moyglare Farm’s True Solitaire, in training with Dermot Weld. 

As you might guess from Tahrir’s yearling price of 350,000gns, she had an attractive pedigree. Her dam, the five-furlong winner Miss Sacha, was a sister to Mister Charm, a dual listed winner at just under a mile in France, and their sire was Last Tycoon, a top sprinter who also took the Breeders’ Cup Mile. 

The third dam, Heaven High, was a half-sister by the stamina-packed High Line to the top-class 10-furlong filly Timarida. You come across another distinguished distaffer in fifth dam Pugnacity. This aptly named filly inherited plenty of speed from her female line–enough to establish herself as a very good performer at two, when her four wins included the five-furlong Lowther S. Developing into an even better three-year-old, Pugnacity landed the Falmouth S. over a mile immediately prior to making all to win the five-furlong King George S. at Goodwood. This versatile filly even put up a good display over a mile and a quarter at four. They don’t make them like that nowadays.